Make no mistake, this colossal and climate-changing project is a gift to private businesses to enable them to make gigantic profits. But, going by the latest special report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it will condemn our grandchildren to a furious natural world intent on getting rid of us human beings by way of a rapidly changing climate.

Floods in Kerala, India, reveal the impact of extreme weather events

Apart from the threats posed by extreme weather and rising sea levels caused by global warming, imagine all the greenhouse gases that will be released by recreating land that exists plentifully already, in China or elsewhere.

The main driver behind suggesting these kinds of monstrous projects is the enormous infrastructure capacity Hong Kong has built up over time and which owners don’t want to have sitting idle (“Why Lantau reclamation would only breed a white elephant”, August 21). Gentrification will eventually make Hong Kong a place for the super rich and their servants – free market capitalism will ensure that.

As for the rest of us, we should be looking for Hong Kong 2.0 somewhere else, maybe in mainland China. We should not threaten our planet with disastrous consequences by building it here in Hong Kong 1.0.